Former Indian captain Kapil Dev rubbished Shoaib Akhtar’s proposal of an ODI series between India and Pakistan to generate funds for COVID-19 victims.
India last played Pakistan in a bilateral competition, way back in 2012, for a three-match ODI series at home.
Since then, India and Pakistan have only clashed against each other during multilateral events at neutral venues, be it ICC Cricket World Cup or the Asia Cup.
The 1983 World Cup-winning captain of India claimed that the Indian government does not require funds by jeopardizing the safety of the players.
“He is entitled to his opinion, but we don’t need to raise the money. We have enough. For us, what is important right now is that how our authorities work together to deal with this crisis. I still see a lot of blame game on television from the politicians, and that needs to stop,” Dev told PTI.
“Anyway, the BCCI has donated a hefty amount (Rs 51 crore) for the cause and is in a position to donate much more if the need arises. It doesn’t need to raise funds,” added Dev.
Further, the 61-year old does not see cricket being played in the foreseeable future. “The situation is unlikely to get normal anytime soon and organizing a cricket game means putting our cricketers at risk which we don’t need to,” Kapil continued.
It is just not worth the risk. And how much money can you make from three games? In my view, you can’t even think of cricket for the next five to six months,” concluded the former India all-rounder.
Earlier, Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI committee forced the Asia Cup 2020 out of Pakistan to a neutral venue in UAE, citing security measures.
Also, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), sued BCCI for not following the MoU, by pulling out of all bilateral ties in between the 2014-2023 FTP cycle.
